Illustrative image (Source: vneconomy.vn) Capital poured into startupsreached 1.4 billion USD in 2021, rising three-fold from the 451 million USD inthe previous year. Up to 70 percent of the investment was channeled intofintech and e-commerce, according to the Vietnam Innovation & TechInvestment Report recently released by the Vietnam National Innovation Centreand venture capital firm Do Ventures.
Five transactions worth over 100million USD were recorded in payment, e-commerce, and gaming last year.
In fintech, the MoMo e-walletapp succeeded in raising about 200 million USD in the Series E funding round,bringing its parent firm’s value to over 2 billion USD. Another majortransaction is that VNLife, which owns the VNPay payment service, attractedmore than 250 million USD in the Series B round.
In e-commerce, Tiki raised258 million USD in Series E, which was led by AIA, while KiotViet received 45million USD in the Series B funding led by KKR.
The gaming industry emergedas the third biggest recipient of venture capital thanks to the global successof Sky Mavis with its Axie Infinity. Sky Mavis successfully raised 152 millionUSD in Series B, led by the US-headquartered Andreessen Horowitz.
In 2021, Vietnam saw the appearanceof two new tech unicorns (technology-based startupcompanies with value of over 1 billion USD) - MoMo and Sky Mavis. So far, the country has had four techunicorns, namely VNG, VNLife, MoMo, and Sky Mavis, along with 11 startupsvalued at over 100 million USD, including Tiki and EQuest.
Aside from those sectors,others also witnessed a boom in transactions due to impacts of the COVID-19pandemic, leading to a surge in investment. Among them, health care, education,and enterprise digital transformation posted breakthrough growth last year, at1,016 percent, 526 percent, and 205 percent, respectively.
Le Hoang Uyen Vy, CEO of DoVentures, forecast e-commerce and fintech will remain the leading sectors inattracting venture capital as more and more consumers are using onlineservices.
Investors will also continuepaying attention to new and potential areas like the creator economy, upskillingplatforms, and Web 3.0 with the increasing presence of cryptocurrency andblockchain technology.
KPMG, a global network ofprofessional firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, forecastinvestment in the tech industry will shoot up 150 percent to hit 2 billion USD in2022, and e-commerce and fintech will remain magnets to investors’attractions.
Online transactions are alsoexpected to keep developing even when the pandemic is over thanks to theGovernment’s resolve to boost digital transformation and the growth oftech-savvy youngsters.
Some of the biggest Vietnamesebeneficiaries from this trend include VNG, VNPay, Sky Mavis, MoMo, and Tiki,according to KPMG.
In 2021, the capital raisedin the over-10 million USD funding rounds hit a record of nearly 1.2 billionUSD, making up more than 82 percent of the total. The sum raised in theunder-10 million USD funding rounds also reached a new level - 256 million USD,soaring 118 percent year on year, the Vietnam Innovation & Tech InvestmentReport pointed out./.
VNA
